Get Things Done

Author and productivity guru David Allen helps people close what he calls “open loops,” the running mental to-do lists that cause all manner of stress. Free your Mind – and lower your blood pressure – by transferring What’s in your head to a more reliable, less leaky container. Allen offers this advice for getting shit done.

Capture
Jot down every useful idea – shoulds, want-tos, and need-tos – whenever and wherever you think of them. Always keep pens and pads handy to take notes or you’ll resist the process.

Centralize
When you’re back at your desk, tear off the sheets of paper – to keep your pad fresh for new input – and toss them into a single in-basket. Process the in-basket daily, as you (should) do with voicemail.

Sort
Devise a system for organizing the accumulated notes and ideas. Consolidate similar tasks (phone calls, errands, etc.) and create files for projects, references, and other materials.

Renegotiate
Review your lists frequently to ensure you’re not missing anything. At least once a week, check your files to remind yourself of all project commitments you have and the next steps for each.

Declare Email Bankruptcy

Copyright wonk (and Wired columnist) Lawrence Lessig hit upon a novel tactic after spending 80 hours trying to clear out his backlogged inbox: surrender. “Bankruptcy is now my only option,” he wrote in a mass message to his correspondence creditors. Here’s how Lessig erased his debts and turned over a new leaf.

1) Collect the email addresses of everyone you haven’t replied to. Paste them into the BCC field of a new message you’ll send to yourself.

2) Write a polite note explaining your predicament. Apologize profusely – Lessig managed five mea culpas in as many paragraphs – and promise to keep up with your email in the future. Try to sound credible.

3) Ask for a resend of anything particularly pressing, and offer to give such messages special attention.

>Editor’s note:Lessig replied to our email query for this story in 20 minutes.

Overclock Your Emailing

»Don’t Send Gargantuan Files
Free services like YouSendIt Lite (www.yousendit.com) let you store files of up to a gig on their server. Your contacts are emailed a link they can use to retrieve them.
»Ping Your Future Self
FutureMe (www.futureme.org) and FutureMail (futuremail.bensinclair.com) send messages at a later time or date. For a recurring alert – “Hey, self, get the oil changed!” – try calendar apps from Yahoo or Google.

Stop Wasting Time Online

Do you use Firefox to surf all day? Stop it! Greasemonkey users can download a script called Invisibility Cloak and set it to blank out specific sites, like Gawker. The script also displays a message prodding you to get back to business.